Emmerdale star nearly played village serial killer – and was gutted he didn’t land role
Emmerdale star Bradley Johnson has played Vinny Dingle since 2019, but he has now revealed that he was once in the running for a very different role on the ITV soap.
Bradley Johnson, who portrays Vinny Dingle in Emmerdale, once disclosed a past role he nearly landed – that of a village villain.
The actor rose to prominence with his portrayal of Vinny, making his first appearance in 2019. As the adopted son of Mandy (Lisa Riley), Vinny has won over the hearts of viewers.
He has also been involved in numerous major storylines. Particularly now, as the Dingle family was recently shaken by the return of Tina Dingle (Samantha Power), 28 years after her last appearance on the show.
Tina made a surprise appearance at her father Zak’s (Steve Halliwell) funeral last month. In a shocking twist, it was revealed that Tina is actually Vinny’s biological mother.
Intent on getting her hands on Zak’s will, Tina blackmailed Mandy, threatening to expose the truth about being Vinny’s mother unless she handed over Zak’s will.
Bradley has become a firm favourite playing Vinny (Image: ITV)
Next week on the soap, things take a dramatic turn when Mandy’s lies are uncovered, leaving Vinny both heartbroken and devastated, reports Leeds Live.
So much so, that he ends up disowning Mandy before offering real mum Tina a choice: stay in his life or take the 50k, return Zak’s will and leave for good. What will she decide?
However, it appears that Bradley, who plays Vinny, almost had a completely different role on the soap. In a candid chat with Inside Soap magazine in 2023, Bradley recounted feeling crestfallen after missing out on the role of a villain in his initial audition. He reminisced: “Years ago I went for the part of Lachlan [White] and I was down to the final couple for it.”
Bradley auditioned for the role of Lachlan (Image: ITV)
“I remember being so disheartened, because my family are such big Emmerdale fans. Although, obviously it wasn’t meant to be. I can’t imagine playing Lachlan, and I love playing Vinny – he’s brilliant,” Bradley disclosed.
The sought-after role of Lachlan White was ultimately snagged by Tom Atkinson who stormed onto the scene at the tender age of 15. His character Lachlan left viewers riveted with some of the most sensational storylines, establishing himself as one of the soap’s most notorious murderers.
He is responsible for taking lives from his own mother Chrissie Sugden (Louise Marwood) to his grandad Lawrence White (John Bowe). Yet, Tom said farewell to Emmerdale back in 2018, as his dastardly alter ego was finally collared by the police.
Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 and ITVX at 7.30pm